Arts & Entertainment
Baltimore arts briefs: Events through Dec. 6
UMD hosts AIDS events, New Wave Singers give Moveable Feast benefit
Adam Cooley in Creative Alliance’s production of ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch.’ Cooley returns for the Alliance’s cabaret night on Friday. (Photo courtesy of Creative Alliance)
Cabaret night is AIDS Action benefit
The Creative Alliance hosts a cabaret to benefit AIDS Action Baltimore and to honor World AIDS Day tonight at 8 at the Creative Alliance at the Patterson (3134 Eastern Ave.).
The music includes Broadway, pop, rock and original songs sung by talented local vocalists. The show also includes readings from the pandemic. AIDS Action Baltimore founder Lynda Dee speaks with Johns Hopkins Hospital’s AIDS researchers about options moving forward with AIDS treatment.
Tickets are $20. For more information, visit creativealliance.org.
UMD plans AIDS Day events
The University of Maryland School of Medicine, School of Pharmacy, School of Social Work and the Office of Interprofessional Student Learning and Service Initiatives (ISLSI) host a full day of activities to honor World AIDS day today starting at 11 a.m.
Activities include confidential HIV testing and services, the Facing AIDS photo campaign and Living Ribbon.
All activities are free. For times and more information, visit umaryland.edu/worldAIDSday.
New Wave Singers give Feast benefit show
New Wave Singers of Baltimore perform Saturday night at 8 in honor of World Aids Day and to benefit Moveable Feast at the First Unitarian Church (1 W. Hamilton Street).
Moveable Feast is an organization that provides food to people who are suffering from AIDS and are not mobile. Half of the proceeds from the concert will go to the organization.
Tickets are $20 for adults and for kids 17 and under, admission is free. For more information, visit newwavesingers.org.
Poetry reading slated for Sunday afternoon
The annual Cave Canem poetry reading at Enoch Pratt Central Library (400 Cathedral St.) hosts writer Kwame Dawes and several other local poets on Sunday from 2-4 p.m.
Dawes writes poetry, fiction, non-fiction and plays and was a winner of the Pushcart Prize in 2001 for his poem “Inheritance.” He was born in Ghana but spent most of childhood in Jamaica.
This event is free. For more information, visit prattlibrary.org.
Sports
Jason Collins dies at 47
First openly gay man to actively play for major sports team battled brain cancer
Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to actively play for a major professional sports team, died on Tuesday after a battle with brain cancer. He was 47.
The California native had briefly played for the Washington Wizards in 2013 before coming out in a Sports Illustrated op-ed.
Collins in 2014 became the first openly gay man to play in a game for a major American professional sports league when he played 11 minutes during a Brooklyn Nets game. He wore jersey number 98 in honor of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student murdered outside of Laramie, Wyo., in 1998.
Collins told the Washington Blade in 2014 that his life was “exponentially better” since he came out. Collins the same year retired from the National Basketball Association after 13 seasons.
Collins married his husband, Brunson Green, in May 2025.
The NBA last September announced Collins had begun treatment for a brain tumor. Collins on Dec. 11, 2025, announced he had Stage 4 glioblastoma.
“We are heartbroken to share that Jason Collins, our beloved husband, son, brother and uncle, has died after a valiant fight with glioblastoma,” said Collins’s family in a statement the NBA released. “Jason changed lives in unexpected ways and was an inspiration to all who knew him and to those who admired him from afar. We are grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers over the past eight months and for the exceptional medical care Jason received from his doctors and nurses. Our family will miss him dearly.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Collins’s “impact and influence extended far beyond basketball as he helped make the NBA, WNBA, and larger sports community more inclusive and welcoming for future generations.”
“He exemplified outstanding leadership and professionalism throughout his 13-year NBA career and in his dedicated work as an NBA Cares Ambassador,” said Silver. “Jason will be remembered not only for breaking barriers, but also for the kindness and humanity that defined his life and touched so many others.”
“To call Jason Collins a groundbreaking figure for our community is simply inadequate. We truly lost a giant today,” added Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson in a statement. “He came out as gay — while still playing — at a time when men’s athletes simply did not do that. But as he powerfully demonstrated in his final years in the league and his post-NBA career, stepping forward as he did boldly changed the conversation.”
“He was and will always be a legend for the LGBTQ+ community, and we are heartbroken to hear of his passing at the young age of 47,” she said. “Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones. We will keep fighting on in his honor until the day everyone can be who they are on their terms.”
The Washington Blade will update this article with additional reaction when it becomes available.
Glitterati Productions held the “Studio 69” party at Bunker on Friday, May 8.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
Washington Blade’s Pride on the Pier returns June 13 to kick off D.C. Pride week
Pride on the Pier officially launches Pride Week in D.C.
The Washington Blade’s annual Pride on the Pier celebration returns to The Wharf on Saturday, June 13, 2026 from 4-9 p.m., bringing thousands of LGBTQ community members and allies together for an unforgettable waterfront celebration to kick off Pride week in Washington, D.C.
Now in its eighth year, Washington Blade Pride on the Pier extends the city’s annual celebration of LGBTQ visibility to the bustling Wharf waterfront with an exciting array of activities and entertainment for all ages. The District Pier will offer DJs, dancing, drag, and other entertainment. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase for those 21 and older.
“Pride on the Pier has become one of the signature moments of Pride in D.C.,” said Lynne Brown, publisher of the Washington Blade. “There’s nothing like watching our community come together on the waterfront with live music and incredible energy as we kick off Pride week.”
Pride on the Pier is free and open to the public, with VIP tickets available for exclusive pier access to the Dockmaster Building. To purchase VIP tickets visit www.prideonthepierdc.com/vip.
Additional entertainment announcements, sponsor activations, and event details will be released in the coming weeks.
Event Details:
📍 Location: District Pier at The Wharf (101 District Sq SW, Washington, DC)
📅 Dates: Friday, 13, 2026
⏱️ 4-9PM
🎟️ VIP Tickets: www.PrideOnThePierDC.com/VIP
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